Summer by the Seaside

A presentation of the charms and benefits of the Belgian coast.

Alternating wide shots of the crowd on the promenade or on the beach, with details or small scenes, or portraits (ah, the beautiful bathers!) the editing gives a very convincing rhythm of the joys of living. One forgets the constraints of the commission and has a glimpse of the images offered by an attentive filmmaker with an eye for the thousand and one little details that are played out on the sands.

Director : Henri Storck

Assistant : Armand Henneuse

Commentary : Eric de Haulleville, spoken by Joris Diels – directeur KNS

Camera : John Fernhout

Assistant : Marcel Delflandre

Editing : Henri Storck

Music : Marcel Poot

The orchestra of the National Institute for Radio Broadcasting of Belgium conducted by Stan Brenders.

Production : CEP

Director of Production : R.G. Le Vaux

Commissioned film : Belgo-Luxemburg Tourism Office

Dutch version entitled Zonnig Leven aan het strand, text by Marnix Gijsen.

English version entitled Summer by the sea.

35mm/B and W/14’/1936

To wach the film please send an email to info@fondshenristorck.be, ask the password and click here

Acrobatically poised at the top of a mast, Storck and his assistants created dizzying perspectives on the teeming crowds or, slipping between the supine bodies on the beach, they snatched living portraits of great substance: the parading, the nonchalance of the bathers, the activities of the athletes, the sports and the children’s games are captured in sparkling images, veiled with the white spray of the water and mother-of-pearl shadows. The youthful rhythms of Marcel Poot’s music adds to the infectious vivacity of this joyful work.

Christiane Delpierre

A pleasant cinematographic poem. Light, joyful, sprinkled with little moments of humour. It expresses a striving, a trend, a state of mind: that of the whole cinematographic team surrounding Henri Storck. This young director has always fought to produce films that would stand out from ordinary productions in that they would be human, truly cinematographic, properly organised.

René Jauniaux, Le Peuple, February 28, 1937